Studio sightreading requirements
Practicing>> How to become a good sightreader>> How to sightread at home
Everyone in the studio is required to sightread for at least 5 minutes every day at home.You may use some of your daily practice time for sightreading, but you should not shortchange your other basic musical skills. Follow these rules to keep sightreading practice in proper proportion:
- If you practice 40 to 60 minutes a day, you may spend up to 5 minutes of that time sightreading.
- If you practice 90 minutes a day, you may spend up to 10 minutes of that time sightreading.
- If you practice two hours a day, you may spend up to 15 minutes of that time sightreading.
- If you practice three hours a day, you may spend up to 20 minutes of that time sightreading.
If you want to do more sightreading, though, don’t take it out of your practice time: Do it after you have finished your practicing.
There will be a prize for the sightreading pages winner in each group class.
Start a new page of sightreading records on the designated date. Don’t list sightreading done before that on your new page. This way, everybody will start the race at the same time.
There will also be a prize for the top sightreading scorer in each group class. I will test you on sightreading in your lesson now and then. A perfect score is 10. Anything between 8 and 10 is very good. If you get a score of 5 or below, that’s a poor score.
Remember, here’s how the scoring goes:
- 4 points for perfect continuity
- 3 points for perfect rhythm
- 2 points for perfect notes
- 1 point for dynamics
The biggest mistake you can make in sightreading is stopping to correct mistakes. If you have that habit, sightread with the metronome: it can help you to keep playing instead of stopping to correct a wrong note or rhythm.
If you are a pretty good sightreader, start paying more attention to the mood of the piece, the dynamics and the tempo markings.
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